Editorial: City should use windfalls to boost employee pay now

The City of Cape Girardeau finds itself in a unique position — facing a problem but having two complementary tools with which to attack it.

In their campaign to convince voters to approve a use tax — applying the local sales tax rate to purchases made online — municipal officials pointed to city employee salaries as a growing problem. For months, department heads from police to parks to public works said they have struggled to attract and keep employees. Raising pay is the only answer, they said.

Luckily, they can. And should.

Voters endorsed the use tax, and when authorities begin collecting it in 2023, it will provide an estimated $3 million annually. That pot of money will go a long way toward filling the city's employee ranks.

Even though use tax funds won't accrue to the city for more than a year, the city's treasury already has some wiggle room. A Southeast Missourian story from April said the police department had eight unfilled — but budgeted — positions. In September, the city's Public Works Department was short 11 people. As of Wednesday, the city's website listed 21 employee vacancies, and those didn't reflect openings in the police and fire departments.

All those budgeted but unfilled positions have created a significant pool of money city officials could use in 2022 to boost salaries until the use tax funds begin rolling in.

Also, fueled in part by a COVID-19 pandemic goods-spending spree, sales tax revenue in Cape Girardeau County is running 8.4% ahead of last year — itself a record-setting year. As the City of Cape Girardeau, like many municipal governments, opts for a conservative spending plan, this extra sales tax revenue could also help bridge the gap in providing higher municipal employee pay until the use tax funds become available.

If the need for municipal employees is as dire as leaders have contended for the past year, they should take advantage of these windfalls sooner rather than later.